Command & Conquer 3 DLC

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First details and video for the five new maps headed to Xbox Live Marketplace.

By Hilary Goldstein

Command & Conquer 3 proved that you can do an RTS on Xbox 360 and make it work. Released in May, C&C 3 has been a critical and commercial success for EA. The response has been so positive that Electronic Arts Los Angeles decided to release five new maps for C&C 3. Available June 19, the first C&C map pack runs 500 Microsoft Points (US$6.25) and includes five multiplayer maps.

We spoke with Senior Producer Michael Glosecki and Designer Greg Black of EA LA about the new maps. Check the details and then eyeball the new video feature showcasing the hot new map pack.

IGN: Let's run through the maps quickly so people have an idea of what to expect in the new map pack.

EA LA: Tournament Desert Redux -- A remake of the classic Command & Conquer Generals 1v1 map. It's an extremely small map with plenty of Tiberium, chokepoints, and garrisoned buildings. Fighting on it is like having a knife fight in a closet. This is not for the faint of heart.

Tiber River Valley -- Ground zero of the tiberium infestation. The Tiber River valley is where tiberium was first discovered on earth. The players have two major strategic options on this map: take the wide open, but strategically less intense, southern route to the enemy's base or slog through the more difficult northern pass with the hopes of capturing some blue tiberium or the EMP control center.

Tiberium Gardens III -- A remake of the famous Command & Conquer map Tiberium Gardens. As the name would suggest, expect to be fighting in, over, and around large amounts of Tiberium. There is ample high ground overlooking these fields of Tiberium and controlling them early will be a key to long term victory.

Black's Bigger Battle -- A four player variant of Black's Big Battle. This is far and away the largest map in Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. It's chock full of everything you've come to expect from Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars maps: tons of Tiberium, tech buildings, garrisonable structures, bridges, choke points and wide open battlefields to maneuver around in. Starting location placement ensures that your base can be attacked at any time from any direction. Expect to see some of the largest and most strategically interesting battles take place on BBB.

Frontier Fracas -- An asymmetrical four player map that encourages 2v2 games. Expect plenty of defensive play on Frontier Fracas as chokepoints, bridges, and bunkers are par for the course. Good team work, airpower, and fast capturing of strategic points are the key to winning battles on Frontier Fracas.

IGN: Tournament Desert Redux and Tiberium Gardens III are remakes of some classic maps. Why choose these two maps to remake and what changes have been made for C&C 3?

EA LA: We decided to remake Tiberium Gardens III for a couple of reasons. It was a classic Command & Conquer map, every Tiberium game up until this point had a version of it, and it was unlike most maps in Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars so it added some nice variety. As far as Tournament Desert Redux goes, that was a tip of our hat to all those avid Generals fans out there that have been patiently waiting since 2003 for a new Command & Conquer game.

IGN: Will there be any additional Achievements added with this download?

EA LA: Our primary focus in creating this map pack was to create an avenue where people could expand upon the venues of destruction whether it be against the computer in skirmish or against your friends over Xbox LIVE¿. This is only the beginning of our plan to extend Command & Conquer 3 through premium downloadable content and without going into too many details, I will tell you that there are plans for other add-ons that will have other focuses and where additional achievements will be more of a natural fit.

IGN: Will these maps and the modes added for Xbox 360 ever become available for PC gamers?

EA LA: The idea around creating this map pack actually came from our Xbox 360 fans who were upset about the fact that they didn't get access to the maps that were featured on the Kane Edition of Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars&#Array;a PC only release. So to answer part of your question, the maps are pretty much already available for the PC--we made some tweaks to the maps so that they could work with all of the various multiplayer modes that the Xbox 360 version has.

As to making the exclusive Xbox 360 multiplayer modes available for the PC, all I can say at this point is that we constantly are reading the boards and listening to the requests of our fans. This request has definitely come up multiple times.

IGN: Now that you've had a chance to hear the response of critics and gamers, what have you learned about making an RTS for a console and how will that shape development of future projects?

EA LA: We have had a ton of great reviews from critics and the community response in the forums has been overwhelmingly positive. It's great to see that people are really getting into the game and enjoying the experience on a console. One of the key things that we've learned is that people are readily able to grasp the concept of playing an in-depth RTS game on console and that they find our controls to be very intuitive. In particular we have a great response to our new shortcuts for creating and managing groups, our cursor magnetism system, and the overall increase in the responsiveness of the controls. We continue to build new ideas with regards to the controls for future console RTS games from EA Los Angeles so plan on seeing more from us in the near future.

IGN: Can we expect to see any more DLC for C&C 3? And would it be more maps, or might we see additional game modes and/or new units?

EA LA: Command & Conquer is a franchise that has truly withstood the test of time and we want to make sure that it remains to be one of the epic RTS franchises for generations to come. To that end, I can definitively say that this will not be the end of our downloadable content offerings for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. We have yet to make any specific announcements, but pay close attention to IGN in the coming months!